Screeching Halt

I wondered when it would happen. I listened carefully and watched with a close eye. I monitored my own feelings and actions to see when it would happen to me. I think it happened last Friday. Last Friday after the Bailout Bill was signed and the market said, "thanks, but not good enough". And then it was reinforced yesterday when the picture was taken of the Big Board with the Dow being down 800 points. I heard it then. It was a slow building sound but as the pressure increased on the brakes the tires started to seize and as they did the friction on the road reached the breaking point and the screeching sound started. The screeching sound is the stop of spending. Since last Friday it is all anyone has talked about. It's in every conversation about how they have "quit spending", have put themselves "on a moratorium", "locked up the credit cards", etc. And the interesting thing is that once it would have been awkward or maybe even a little shameful to say, "I really can't afford that right now", now it is almost with a bit of pride that I heard a woman in a conversation say yesterday, "it's just not right to be spending now like I usually do". I shouldn't be surprised because I feel it too. I am waiting for the set of envelopes that come in at the end of each quarter. None of them will be opened with any expectation other than they carry numbers in the red which is bad news. I am stitching closed my pants pockets as I write this. A friend of Patti's who worked for over 30 years and retired from the same company, got the call from her financial planner yesterday telling her that she may want to start looking for a part-time job and if the market slide continues, to plan on going back to work full-time. In the meantime, she was told, stop all but necessary spending. And the screeching continues. What will this do to the economy that just 90 days ago was wanting to feel the effects of a spending stimulus? It seems that whatever turn or action that is taken has a bad side-effect. In the meantime, it appears the prudent thing to do is to keep the pressure on the spending brakes and put up with the screeching noise. One of these days we will be able to afford anti-skid spending brakes but for now, let 'em screech.